Festive candle



Oct. 9, 1951 J. M. o'coNNoR YFESTIVE CANDLE Filed Nov. e, 194e m e b@Patented oa. 9, i951 UNITED STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE James M. oconnor,seattle, Wash. Application November 6, 1948, Serial No. 58,740

T his invention relates to a festive candle, and Ahasfor its generalobject the provision of a candle Vso* made as to give every indicationof being van 4 claims. (ci. 1021-31) ordinary taper and which, when lit,initially burns with the wavering light typical of the common wax candlebut later is caused to are up with an intense light and give off ascintillating shower of brilliant but entirely harmless re-like sparks.

The invention consists in the new method of I,producing a festive candleof this nature, and

in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of partscomposing the same,

vas will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

'Figure 1 is a transverse vertical sectional View 'illustrating afestive candle made tovembody the preferred teachings of the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. l

. Fig. 3 is a top plan view illustrating the blank from which I form awax-catching cup arranged and adapted to be used with my candle.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of said wax-catching cup shown as it is givena cone shape by bring- Y' ing the marginal edges of the blanks sectoralopening into a tensioning lapped relationship; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary partly schematic transverse vertical sectionalview of the candle taken to an enlarged View and portraying the sameafter the tip has been consumed and at the ap- Y proximate stage of itsburning when the sparkle'r core becomes ignited. ij

In its preferred embodiment the present invention is comprised simply ofa single sparkler member sheathed as a core within a molded body of Wax,but quite possibly could be made up of multiple said sparklers, orfunctional counterparts thereof, embedded in more or less haphazardfashion within an investing body of wax. Describing said preferredembodiment, the core is denoted by the numeral I0 and is formulated fromany applicable composition of matter the particles of which are bondedtogether and molded into the shape of a rod upon a reinforcing stick IIwhich may be made either of metal or wood. The stick desirably projectsby an end well beyond the bottom end ci the sparkler rod. By way ofexample, a suitable composition of matter, considered proportionately byweight, is one containing 10 ounces of white potassium chlorate, 2

ounces of granulated aluminum, 2 ounces of dextrine, and 11g ounce ofcharcoal. If it be desired to develop color, say red or green, in thesparks which issue as products of combustion when such formulation ofmatter is ultimately ignited, the mixture can be augmented either bypowdered strontium nitrate or powdered barium nitrate, usingY 11/2ounces of the former or 2 ounces of the latter, as the case may be.

This sparkler rod desirably is formed with a bullet-shaped head I2 and,after the rod sets to shape, there is applied over such head a wickwhich I have indicated as being comprised of a severalty of individualstrands, designated by I3, applied perpendicular to the rod andpositioned at equidistantly spaced intervals of the latterscircumference. As a procedural step, it is my finding that thevwick-forming strands can be applied with expedition by coating the samewith semi-fluid wax and then laying these wax-coated strands in theirnecessary spaced relationship upon a flat surface, whereupon the tip ofthe sparkler rod is rolled over the same to pick up the strands byadhesion. Tip ends of the strands are caused to project beyond thebullet head of the rod, and these protruding ends are then pressedtogether. The final step of producing the candle is to introduce the rodand its wick within a candle mold, preferably with the bottom end of therod elevated somewhat above the licor of the mold, and pour into thismold a rod-investing body I4 of molten wax. A suitable wax formula isone containing paraine melting point) combined with stearic acid andwhite lead, used in the proportions of 5 lbs. of the paraine to 1A lb.of

.the .acid and 1/8 1b. of the lead.

Employed in conjunction with the festive candle of the present inventionis a wax-catching cup designated by I5 and which is made from a blank ofthin sheet tin, cardboard or the like cut to a generally circularpattern comprehending somewhat less than a complete circle, and this isto say that a re-entrant sectoral throat is provided. The blank ispierced to present a center opening I6. Projecting inwardly from onemarginal edge of said sectoral throat is a tongue I'I, and there is cutinto the material of the blank adjacent the other marginal edge a radialslot I8 arranged, when the two edges are drawn together, to registerwith the tongue. Upon drawing said edges together under tension, theblank will form itself into a cone-shaped cup, and the same is then heldin this condition by passing the tongue through the slot and bending thesame rearwardly. As will be clearly apparent from an inspection of Fig.1, the cup is applied to the-candle by inserting the protruding bottomend of the reinforcing stick II through the center opening I6.

I profess no novelty in and to the construction of the cup. Y

In lieu of using a severalty of strands to produce my wick, the samecould, if desired, be a Woven product made in the form of a taperingsheath, but whether the one or the other be used it is here pointed outthat extensive experiments rather conclusively establish that it isnecessary to a practical working of the present invention that the AWicksubstantially encompass the bullet head of the rod. This is to say that`a Wick passing along one side only of the sparkler rod is ineffectiveas an assured means of igniting the latter. A single-strand wick mightin reason be made effective, however, by treating the head end of thesparkler rod withan ignition-accelerating substance, and in thisr-.eSpectI have eX- perimented With various known preparations for thispurpose and such, for example, as amixture of potassium chlorate, leadbinoxide, red lead, antimony `trisulphide, and gum arabic, but theresults have not been satisfactory. The explanation of theineffectiveness of a .single-strand Wick very probably lies in the factthat-the head v.of the rod must be substantially enveloped by a hotflame.

In using my festive candle, the `same is lighted in the ordinary manner,and then burns fora short time interval much the same as anordinarytaper. As the wax melts, the bullet'l nose of `the sparkler rod becomesexposed and heated, vand ignition of the latter customarily takes vplacewhen the level of the wax has dropped to approximately the point atwhichA it is indicatedv in Fig. 5. schematically graphed in this vieware the three cone-shaped flame bands which rise `from the burning Wick,the lcwermost or primary band a being a blue flame which is enveloped bya secondary deep yellow name-band b and which is in turn enveloped by atertiary flame-band c of lighter yellow. It is the effective vesture ofthis is of advantage in that it causes the wax to melt well ahead of theignition pointand is',

with the absence of a wick, a factor responsible Number y for the wax toburn down' in the degree necessary to ignite the sparkler being additiveto the Y .fascination of the candles.

' It is thought that the invention will have been clearly understoodfrom the foregoing description. The particular arrangement of partswhich I have elected'to illustrate, the compositions of matter which Ihave referred to as being suitable therefor, and the recited method of Ymanufacture each admit of ,being 4changed Without sacrifice of theinventive concept, Wherefor it is my intention that no limitations .beimplied and that the hereto annexed claims be given a breadth in theirconstruction fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation towhich the employed language fairly admits. l v

What I claim is: Y

1. As a festive candle, a body of wax with a contained wick and havingembedded within the wax an ignitable core, the Wick substantiallysurroundingthe head .end of said -ignitable core.

2-. As a festive candle, an ignitable sparkler rod. ashort wick appliedin contiguous lapping relation to the head endV only of the rod, and abody of Wax investing said rod and the lapping portion of the wick.

3. As a festive candle, an ignitable rodcontaining a pyrotechnic, ashort wick sheathing the head end only ofthe rod and projecting abovethe latter, and a body of Wax investing said rod and the sheathingportion of the wick. v4. The festive candle of claim 1 in which theignitable` core contains a pyrotechnic. j

JAlVIES- M. OCONNOR.

REFERENCES CITED i Therfollowing references are of record in the ille ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name DateY 1,608,518 Minloth 1 NOV. 30, 1926

